Improvement in the art of manutactttrina spikes



D. EYNON. ART or MANUFACTURING SPIKBS.

No; 107,602. Patented Sept. 20, 1870.

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DAVID EYNON; or RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR To THE TREDEGAR COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE. I

Lamar-1mm 107,602, dated Sqitember 20, 1870.

The Schedule refen'ed to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same I, DAVID EYNON, of Richmond, county of Henric State of Virginia, have inventeda Method of Facihtat ng the Manufacture of Spikes, of which the iollowing is a specification.

Nature and Object of my Invention.

My invention consists of the method, fully described hereafter, and illustrated by the accompanying drawing, of facilitating the manufacture of spikes, the said method enabling me to produce-rapidly, and from scrap or inferior iron, spikes of a superior qualit and, also, enabling me to save the fuel, heretofore required for reheating spike-bars, preparatory to subjecting them to the action of a spike-machine.

Description of the Accmnpan'ying Dru-wing,

F'gure l is a side view of apparatus, illustrating my method of facilitating the manu acture of spikes;

Figure 2, a plan view; and

Figure 3, aview of a shearing device, which may be use in connection with the apparatus.

General Descrqition.

A represents part of an ordinary train of rolls, of a character suitable for converting billets or fagots into bar-iron, of appropriate size for making spikes.

B and B represent, in outline, two machines known as Swetts spike-machincs, in which the heated bar isconverted into spikes, the bar being fed to rolls in front of the machine, severed into lengths, and head.- ed, ina manner well understood by those familiar with iron-works in which nails, chairs, and spikes are manufactured. v

The object of my invention has-been to so connect these spike-machines with the rolls, that a bar from the latter can be subjected to the machines, and there converted into spikes without reheating.

- Inorder to accomplish this end I usealong trough,

D, terminating at one end near the rolls A, and at the opposite end in two branches, D and D", the end of the branch D being adjacent to the feed-rolls ot' the spike-machine B, and the end of the other branch D" adjacent to the feed-rolls of the machine B.

At the point x, where the two branches meet each other and the trough D, I hinge a plate, 3 which can be adjusted to the position shown by plain lines,- or that shown by dotted lines, at pleasure, and above the trough D, at a point explained hereafter, I suspend a pair of shears, which, as illustrated in the eu-' larged sectional view, fig. 3, consists of a stationary hanger, O, carrying a lever, E, which may be vibrated by any appropriate mechanism, and which has a knife, or, operating in conjunction with a stationary knife.

As the bar takes its last pass through the rolls, it is directed by the latter along thetrouglr'D, and, ow ing to the position of the plate 3 along the branch I) to the spike-machine B, and it should be here on dcrstood that the trough D and its branch are long enough to take 'in the entire bar.

As the operation of a spike-machine is comparatively slow, the entire bar could not be convertcd'into spikes before it became too cold to submit to the machine; hence, the employment of two, or even more, spike-machines in connection with a pair, of rolls.

The moment the hot bar has been lodged in the trough D and its branch, thefirst operation is to sever the bar about midway between its opposite ends. This is accomplished by elevating the bar, so as to subject it to the action of the shears, fig. 3,'by which the bar is promptly cut. I v

The severed outer end of the bar, partlyiu the trough D and partly in its branch'D is now directed to the feed-rollers of the machine B, and is there leftto be converted into spikes. I

The operator, as soon as the first portion of the bar is clear of the junction :1: of the two branches of the trough, changes the position of the plate 3 seizes the.

remaining portion of the bar in the trough D, pulls it along the branch D", anddirects it to the feed-rollers of the spike-machine B, to be converted into spikes.

In the meantime, before the last portion of the bar has been entirely consumed by the machine B, thefirst portion of the bar has been converted into spikes by the machine 13,- and the branch D is clear, so that after adjusting the plate y to its .former position, the trough and its branch I) are ready to receive another bar, to be treated in the same manner as the first.

If desired, three spike-machines may be used in connection with one set of rolls, the third machine being situated at the point B", shown by dotted lines in fig. 2.- In this case two shearing-machines (fig. 3) must be used'at appropriate points for severing the bar into three lengths, and the trough must have an additional branch, I).

,In some cases the trough may not be clear and in a proper condition to receive the bar. I, therefore, hinge a portion, m, of the trough nearest the rolls, so that it can be elevated, as shown in fig. 1, thereby permittin the bar to be projected onto the ground by the ro ls.

Shears maybe used in connection with the spike: machine B, for-cutting off the ragged end of the bar before the latter is fed to the machine, and shears may also be used in connection with the machine B, or the last machine, for-cntting'ofi the rear ragged. end ot the bar; but as theseare minor features it has not been deemed necessary to illustrate or describe them.

It will be evident, without further description, that, not only is the manufacture of spikes facilitated, but the fuel required by the usual process of reheating the bars is saved, and much tedious manipulation avoided' The most important result of my invention, however, is the quality of the spikes, which, although they may be made from old rails and other scrap-iron, are sup'erior, as regards toughness, to ordinary spikes.

Heretofore it has been the practice to roll especial bars of a superior quality to be converted into spikes,

but the reheating of these bars expands the fibers and deteriorates the iron, so that the spikes produced do not possess that solidity and toughness which the rolled iron itself possessed after passing from the rolls, and before reheating.

Spikes,however, made from rolled scrap-iron without reheating, according to the above-described methods, are not only more economical than, but superior, as regards toughness, to ordinary spikes.

Tubes may be used in place of an open trough, for guiding the bars to the spike-machines, there being open spaces at intervals where the bar has to be sevcred, and where the severed portions are directed to the different machines, a tubular, or partly tubular guide is in fact to be preferred in one respect. It serves to retain the heat of the bar longer than an open trough. I have alluded to Swetts spike-machine as that used in connection with my invention, (I refer to Swetts patent of March 14,1854, extended March, 1868.) It should he understood, however, that my apparatus may be used in connection with any self-feeding spikemachine.

Claim. The method herein described, and illustrated by the of manufacturing spikes.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing accompanying drawing, as an improvement in theart 

